Pinatas have for many years found favor for use at parties and numerous other festive occasions, especially those attended by children. Pinata-breaking celebrations are quite popular in Mexico and in the Mexican-American communities of the Southwestern United States. Pinatas are traditionally a pot or container ornamented with colorful paper and filled with candy, nuts, confetti, and/or token gifts such as small toys and the like. The container is suspended from above and the children, while blindfolded, take turns attempting to puncture the container with a bat or other implement to release the treats within. The traditional pinata is made of clay pottery. More recently, pinatas are constructed of paper mache or other frangible material and generally include a bottom paper closure which is torn or broken by the child pulling a cord or similar attachment secured to the closure, or otherwise breaking the closure.
Typical mass-produced pinatas are constructed of paper mache and assume their full form prior to shipping. The pinata may be filled with treats, but are more commonly sold empty. The hollow paper mache construction of the pinata is relatively fragile and susceptible to breakage during shipping and handling.
Several attempts have been made to construct collapsible pinatas which can be reused. U.S. Pat. No. 3,702,675, issued to Bajo, discloses a pinata having a pair of flexible lateral panels and front and rear accordion pleated panels extending between the lateral panels. An expandable wire frame is mounted within the enclosed space defined by the panels for expanding or collapsing the pinata for use or storage. U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,266 discloses a collapsible and reusable pinata constructed of telescoping upper and lower cylinders. When the upper cylinder is suspended, the lower cylinder extends downward to the fully opened position of the pinata. Both these patents to Bajo suffer the disadvantage that they remain relatively fragile during shipping. Furthermore, these devices require wire frames or flexible members within the outer enclosure of the pinata, thus adding cost.
There is a need for an inexpensive pinata which is durable in shipping.